


i saw you in a magazine

by yugto



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gay Panic, Humor, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27813499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yugto/pseuds/yugto
Summary: In all honesty, it’s ninety percent coincidence that Kiyoomi sees the magazine cover.The other ten percent is Motoya’s fault, which, to be fair, is just kind of par for the course for Kiyoomi’s life at this point.hey have you seen this month’s Volleyball Monthly lol, he texts, as Kiyoomi ducks into the Tokyo Station konbini, towing his suitcase behind him, to kill time while he waits for his train.Sakusa sees a familiar face (and much, much more) in this month'sVolleyball Monthly.
Relationships: Komori Motoya & Sakusa Kiyoomi, Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 250





	i saw you in a magazine

**Author's Note:**

> someday i will write actual sakuatsu but until then, here's sakusa being dehydrated and komori just endlessly making fun of him.
> 
> honestly i wrote this to prove to myself that i can 1) write something in less than a month (this took me three days! whoa!) and 2) write something in fewer than 2000 words (for zine application purposes, lmao). i hope you enjoy!

In all honesty, it’s ninety percent coincidence that Kiyoomi sees the magazine cover. 

The other ten percent is Motoya’s fault, which, to be fair, is just kind of par for the course for Kiyoomi’s life at this point. _hey have you seen this month’s Volleyball Monthly lol_ , he texts, as Kiyoomi ducks into the Tokyo Station konbini, towing his suitcase behind him, to kill time while he waits for his train.

Kiyoomi steps out of the way of a frazzled mother and her three sniffling children – far, _far_ out of their way – then fishes his phone out of his pocket and texts back one-handed: _Not yet. Why?_

_just check it out_ , Motoya replies within seconds. _me and Suna-kun have a running bet on what your reaction will be :3_

_Aren’t you at practice?_ Kiyoomi texts back, because acknowledging Motoya’s bet will 1) undoubtedly end badly for him and 2) force him to admit he cannot for the life of him recall who _Suna-kun_ is. The radio silence on Motoya’s end indicates that perhaps, he’s finally been pulled away from his phone by some more responsible member of the EJP Raijins. Pocketing his phone, Kiyoomi returns to browsing the shelves, giving the other family in the konbini a wide berth.

It’s then that the magazine catches his eye. The title jumps out at him first, the result of spending the past fifteen years of his life scanning shelves for _Volleyball Monthly_. The second thing that jumps out at him is Miya Atsumu’s smug face.

Miya isn’t alone on the cover; Kageyama Tobio is there too, the both of them posed back to back. Miya’s Black Jackals uniform contrasts sharply with Kageyama’s Schweiden Adlers uniform, the both of them set against a bright red backdrop. Bold kanji, splashed across their chests, read _Japan’s Top Two Setters Bare All_. 

Unfazed by the headline – it’s no secret that his generation is basically taking over the volleyball world, and the 2020 national team is bound to be ninety-percent composed of his erstwhile rivals – Kiyoomi pulls his phone back out of his pocket to text his cousin: _Miya Atsumu being one of Japan’s top two setters is what you wanted me to see? I knew that already._

He takes a copy of the magazine off the shelf with one gloved hand – he needs some reading material for the train, anyway – and grabs a can of green tea on his way to the register. As he leaves the konbini, the plastic bag of his purchases hanging from his wrist, his phone dings with a text from Motoya. _ok but did you read the article_ , it reads, accompanied by a handful of smug-looking weasel stickers.

Knowing Motoya, those stickers are undoubtedly a harbinger of bad news. He’s half-tempted _not_ to read the article, just to spite his cousin. The more logical part of his brain points out that he already spent 1000 yen on this magazine, and he’s got a three-hour train ride ahead of him, so he might as well read it. 

He winds his way through the crowds to the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen platform, then finds a spot to stand while he waits, ignoring the smattering of empty chairs scattered around the platform. (Only the gods know what’s been in contact with those chairs since the last time the janitorial staff came around.) A quick glance at the station clock tells him the shinkansen won’t arrive for another five minutes. He opens up the magazine, flipping through the pages until he finds Miya and Kageyama’s faces near the middle. 

The same _Japan’s Top Two Setters Bare All_ headline is repeated here, this time across a photo of them facing off across the net at the most recent game between the Black Jackals and the Schweiden Adlers. Kiyoomi had watched that game over video chat with Motoya just last week, the two of them sprawled across their separate beds at the Waseda University and EJP Raijins’ dorms. At the end of the fifth set, Miya had pulled off a particularly nasty dump to score the winning point for the Black Jackals. The photographer for this article’s cover photo has captured the moment just after the dump: both of them hang in midair, Miya’s face twisted into a savage grin, Kageyama’s into a fierce scowl. It’s a much better angle than the pixelated top-down view Kiyoomi got, watching the livestream on his laptop over the dorms’ slow wifi.

The opening of the article is fairly run-of-the-mill, an interview with both Kageyama and Miya conducted just after the aforementioned game. There’s nothing here that might prompt Motoya to send so many smug-faced stickers. Kiyoomi reads on with some trepidation.

The next part – the magazine’s centerfold – is a solo interview with Kageyama Tobio, which is, in a word, sparse. Kiyoomi’s no expert at PR himself – whenever the Waseda student newspaper tries to get soundbites after their games, he usually lets the other players handle that – but he can’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for the interviewer, who undoubtedly is doing his best to craft a compelling narrative with the very, _very_ little Kageyama’s given him. Pictures interspersed throughout the interview show Kageyama modeling various outfits: a posed shot here in a suit and tie and there in streetwear. Across the centerfold, there’s a candid shot of him in blue board shorts, playing beach volleyball two-on-two with a few of the Schweiden Adlers; he’s setting the ball as Wakatoshi runs up for a spike. The photographer has captured him head-on, the long, elegant lines of his body glistening with sweat as he stretches to set the ball. Wryly, Kiyoomi thinks to himself that the Kageyama fans out there in the world are probably buying this magazine for the pictures, more than the words.

He turns the page.

Miya Atsumu grins up at him, decked out in a well-tailored three-piece suit, posed in what looks like a hotel lobby. Down the page, there’s another photo of him in streetwear, leaning faux-casually against a wall in some Osakan alleyway. And then, splashed across the bottom half of the left-hand page, he sees the reason why Motoya was so eager to hear his thoughts on this particular issue of _Volleyball Monthly_.

Pictured here is Miya Atsumu. Like the final photo in Kageyama’s section of the interview, he and his teammates are playing beach volleyball, shirtless. Unlike that final photo of Kageyama, Miya’s not setting; instead, he’s lunging to one side to receive a volleyball, muscular arms outstretched and ready to bump the ball into the air. His black shorts are much shorter and tighter than Kageyama’s board shorts, exposing a precipitous amount of thigh. As is characteristic of Miya, he’s grinning fiercely, his tongue lolling out of his mouth, perhaps taunting whoever’s across the net from him.

There’s a lot of skin and a _lot_ of muscle on display. It’s nothing Kiyoomi hasn’t seen on other men, but still – he stares slack-jawed for a precious few seconds, then slams the magazine closed and shuts his eyes like the image has burned him. 

He’s not freaking out. He’s _not_. It’s not like he didn’t know that Miya Atsumu had grown up since the last time they saw each other, their third year of high school. People grow and change. It’s what they do. And it’s not like he hasn’t seen Miya in years; obviously, he’s been watching the V. League matches. But the difference in image quality between livestreams and these photographs is astronomical. 

Two thoughts come to Kiyoomi, as he stands there not-quite-freaking-out on the shinkansen platform:

1) Since their high school training camp days, Miya Atsumu has had the audacity to become fucking _hot_ , and Kiyoomi kind of hates it. 

And 2) he’s going to _kill_ Motoya the next time he visits.

As if summoned by the very thought of him, Motoya blows up his phone with a series of texts: _so what did you think???_ , _c’mon Kiyoomi don’t leave me on read ://_ , _inquiring minds want to know!!!_ , _inquiring minds are me and Suna-kun btw_.

_Have I told you lately that I hate you_ , he texts back succinctly, and pockets his phone.

Over the station speakers, an announcement rings out: _The Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen is now arriving, making stops at the Shinagawa, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, and Shin-Osaka stations. Please remain behind the yellow line until the train comes to a full and complete stop. Thank you._

Tomorrow morning, Kiyoomi will be in Osaka. Tomorrow morning, the MSBY Black Jackals’ tryouts begin. Tomorrow morning, he will be face to face with Miya Atsumu for the first time in years, with _this_ mental image fresh in his mind. Trying (and failing) not to think about any of this, Kiyoomi tucks the magazine into his bag and boards the train.

**Author's Note:**

> > _Nakita kita sa isang magasin_   
>  _At sa sobrang gulat, di ko napansin_   
>  _Bastos pala ang pamagat_   
>  _Dali-dali ang binuklat_   
>  _At ako’y namulat sa hubad na katotohanan_
>> 
>> (I saw you in a magazine  
> And in my surprise, I didn’t notice  
> The headline was lewd  
> So swiftly, I opened the pages  
> And I was struck by the naked truth)
> 
> — ["Magasin"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-PBllpYCe8), Eraserheads
> 
> the photo of atsumu was referenced off [this tweet](https://twitter.com/kirschade/status/1333480512372039680). i do not blame sakusa for being thirsty.
> 
> if you would like to yell about haikyuu with me i am on twitter [@tadhanastar](https://twitter.com/tadhanastar/)! if you liked this fic you can [rt the promo tweet here](https://twitter.com/tadhanastar/status/1333660863891263488?s=20)!


End file.
